Afflatus: A Collection of Dreams and Their Gnostic Influence on Human Evolution

by Trudy Fox

Overview

Long before biblical times, dreams may have been a source of divine and creative impulses to push humanity to greater levels of awareness, to initiate discoveries, and to develop inventions. Dreams have offered protection and guidance on the spiritual path towards the soul’s divine purpose. Ancient tribal priests, medicine men, and shamans often used dreams to foretell fortunes and direct the travels of nomadic tribes to ensure their survival and safe journey.

In Afflatus: A Collection of Dreams and Their Gnostic Influence on Human Evolution, author Trudy Fox presents a collection of historical events demonstrating how, through spiritual intervention, dreams have shaped the events of history and will continue to do so in the future. Fox seeks to inspire you to pursue the insight, guidance, and ideas that may be transmitted during the sleep state. She prompts everyone to pursue their heart’s passions. The stories shared are about ordinary people who achieved extraordinary things through their dreams.

There are those souls who at the right time in their personal evolution and the evolution of the world are open to receiving divine Gnostic inspiration. Afflatus: A Collection of Dreams and Their Gnostic Influence on Human Evolution aims to help you to become open to receiving divine guidance and, through this awareness, find your true meaning and purpose in life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452511887
Publisher:	Balboa Press AU
Publication date:	10/21/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	236
File size:	292 KB

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AFFLATUS

A Collection of Dreams and Their Gnostic Influence on Human Evolution

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By Trudy Fox

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2013 Trudy Fox
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-1187-0

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CHAPTER 1

BIBLICAL DREAMS

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. —Acts 15:18

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. —Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28-30

The Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant Bibles are collections of what were originally a number of independent books written by various authors in different languages. They were referred to as The Holy Scriptures, which are the inspired Word of God, also known as The Holy Bible.

The Holy Bible is a canonical collection of texts considered sacred in Judaism or Christianity. Different religious groups included different books within their canons, in varying order, dividing or combining books or incorporating additional material. Christian Bibles range from the 66 books of the Protestant canon to the 81 books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon.

The English word bible is derived through Latin from the Greek word bi.bli'a, meaning "little books." This is further derived from bi'blos, a word describing the inner portion of the papyrus plant from which the early form of paper was created. Gebal, an ancient Phoenician seaport famous for making and exporting papyrus paper, was called "Byblos" by the Greeks.

The Bible is divided into two sections. The Old Testament, which details events from the beginning of creation until just prior to the birth of Jesus, was written in Hebrew and Aramaic from 1513 BC to 443 BC, and contains 39 books. It was written by numerous scribes, or authors, beginning with Moses in 1513 BC and ending with Nehemiah and Malachi in 443 BC. The Protestant Old Testament is identical with the Hebrew Bible, also called the Tanakh, which includes the Five Books of Moses (the Torah = "teaching" or "law"), as well as the Nevi'im (books of the prophets) and the Ketuvim ("writings"). This was followed by a large gap of around five hundred years, until the apostle Matthew recorded his historic account—along with Paul, Luke, James, Mark, Peter, Jude, and John.

The second half of the Christian Bible is the New Testament, containing 27 books: the four canonical gospels describing the life and teachings of Jesus; Acts of the Apostles telling of the early times of the Christian Church under the apostles; 21 epistles or letters, mainly written by Paul but also by James, Peter, John and Jude; and the book of Revelation, largely a prophetic description of the end times. This was written in Greek some 500-600 years after the Old Testament, in the first and second centuries AD.

Therefore, the Bible was written over a period of 1600 to 1700 years. No other book in history has taken so long to complete.

All Scripture is "inspired of God." This expression is translated from the Greek phrase theópneustos, meaning "God breathed" or "God inspired." By "breathing" on faithful men, God caused his spirit, or force, to become operative within them and directed what he wanted recorded. God would use men who were even considered "unlettered and ordinary" in scholastic training to become his scribes, regardless of their occupation: shepherd, tentmaker, fisherman, tax collector, physician, priest, prophet, or king.

On four occasions in the Bible, the "finger of God" is said to be the means of carrying out God's will. Firstly, when Pharaoh's magicians saw Moses perform supernatural feats, they told Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:19). The second and third times refer to the finger of God writing His Ten Commandments on stone tablets (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10). The fourth is when Jesus, addressing his disciples in Luke 11:20, declared, "But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."

Though not stated as such, the moving finger that appeared in response to King Belshazzar's blasphemy could be considered another example: "Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lamp stand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote" (Daniel 5:5).

However, the most famous example of "God's finger" is depicted by Michelangelo's fresco The Creation of Adam, depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The painting (circa AD 1511-1512) is traditionally thought to illustrate the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives life to Adam, the first man. The image of the near-touching fingers of God and Adam—his first creation of man—represents one of the single most iconic images of the origin of humanity.

In 1990, a physician named Frank Lynn Meshberger noted in the medical publication, Journal of the American Medical Association, that the background figures and forms portrayed behind the figure of God appear to be an anatomically accurate picture of the human brain.

Meshberger further claimed there appeared to be an active communication exchange between God and Adam, just as neurons transmit biochemical information across synaptic clefts. God's right arm also extends across what resembles the prefrontal cortex.

The question is this: how could Michelangelo have known of this in AD 1511, centuries before the structure of the brain was identified by Spanish neuroscientist, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, in 1887—with the regions mapped out many years later identifying their function? Perhaps, as Michael Salcman, in a paper entitled "The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)" (Neurosurgery, Vol. 59, December 2006), "a cynic might suppose that neurologists ... are prone to discover brains ... everywhere."

Meshberger was actually a gynecologist, so his further observation that the red cloth around God has the shape of a human uterus and that the scarf hanging out—colored green—could represent a cut umbilical cord (or perhaps the brain stem) might not be too surprising.

Be that as it may, English physicist and mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton once remarked, "I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever" (Two Apologies, R. Watson, London, 1820, p. 57).

Therefore, our dreams may be the unconscious means by which we are directed on the right path by God:

"For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword"—Job 33:14-18 (King James Version).

Over 125 references to significant dreams which influenced the course of history appear throughout both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Some of these are revealed in the following narratives.

Abraham (Abram)

The story of Abraham, as written in the Old Testament Book of Genesis Chapters 11-25, is replete with dreams and visions (basically the same as dreams but occurring when the person is fully awake).

Abraham's original name was Abram (Hebrew meaning "exalted father"). He was the son of Terah (Genesis 11:26-31) and the husband and half-brother of Sarai (Hebrew meaning "she who strives" or Mesopotamian version of Sarah) (Genesis 11:29; 17:15; 20:12). He also had two brothers—Nahor and Haran (Genesis 11:26). Haran was the father of Lot.

Abram lived around the period 1812 BC to 1637 BC. He was the tenth generation born from Noah through Shem, in Urfa—which is identified with "Ur of the Chaldees"—352 years after the flood in 2018 BC. He is the patriarch of the Hebrew nation, from whose son, Isaac, originated the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Genesis 11:27-25:10), and is not only an important figure in both Judaism and Christianity but is recognized as an important prophet in Islam.

Terah—by then aged around 200—took his son Abram, together with Abram's wife Sarai and nephew Lot (the son of Abram's brother Haran), and migrated to Haran in upper Mesopotamia and settled there.

The Lord then said to Abram:

"Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV).

Abram was 75-years-old when he left Haran in 1943 BC. He took his wife Sarai, together with his nephew Lot and all his wealth, and headed for the land of Canaan.

As they passed through the city of Shechem, on the plains of Moreh, God appeared to Abram and said: "To your offspring I will give this land." (Genesis 12:7 NIV).

From Moreh they traveled further on toward the east of Bethel. Journeying further south they encountered a great famine, so they headed toward Egypt. As they approached Egypt, Abram expressed his concern to Sarai that when the Egyptians saw how beautiful she was they would try to take her as their wife and kill him. So he pleaded with her to identify herself as his sister so that his life might be spared.

Sarai had the effect on the Egyptians that Abram anticipated, and she was taken to the royal palace. However, God so plagued Pharaoh that their exodus was secured.

Leaving Egypt, Abram, Sarai, and Lot took everything they possessed and headed south toward the Negev desert. They then returned to where they had earlier camped at Bethel (Hebrew meaning "house of God")—a town about ten miles north of Jerusalem. They continued journeying further until they reached the location of the altar where God had first appeared to Abram. By now Abram was a very wealthy man, having amassed a vast herd of cattle, and silver, and gold.

Abram and Lot Separate

As their herds began to greatly increase, conflict arose among the herdsmen. So Abram proposed to Lot it would be best to go their separate ways. Lot selected the basin region of the lower Jordan in the east and established his camp in the fertile valley there—facing the city of Sodom. Abram went to live close to the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he had previously built an altar to the Lord.

The Lord there addressed Abram, declaring:

"Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the Earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you." (Genesis 13:13-18 NIV).

Abram Rescues Lot

Later, a war erupted in the Valley of Siddim between the four allied kings from the north, led by the Elamite king Chedorlaomer, against five allied Canaanite kings from Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were conquered, and Lot was taken prisoner.

When Abram heard this news from someone who had managed to escape, he—together with 318 of his armed trained servants—pursued the captors into Dan and further on to Hobah, where they engaged in battle. Abram—together with his army of servants—defeated the four allied armies, and rescued Lot, together with all of his people and their possessions.

God's Covenant Promise with Abram

For this great act of courage, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." But Abram said, "Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." Then the word of the Lord came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." But Abram said, "Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" (Genesis 15:1-8 NIV).

So God set Abram the task of presenting animal sacrifices to Him. Abram dissected the chosen animals into pieces and laid them on an altar. As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a disturbing dream came to him. Then the Lord spoke to him:

"Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." (Genesis 15:13-16 NIV).

After sunset, a smoking fire-pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the sacrificed pieces. The Lord then made a covenant with Abram saying:

"To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." (Genesis 15:17-21 NIV).

Hagar and Ishmael

Ten years passed since Abram and his wife Sarai came to settle in the land of Canaan and, despite God's promise to Abram, they remained childless. Sarai felt that God had forgotten his promise to Abram; so she offered Abram her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, and requested he take her also as a wife, so that, according to contemporary law and custom as witnessed by the Code of Hammurabi, a son born of this woman would be the freeborn son and heir of Abram and Sarai.

"And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai." (King James Genesis 16:2)

However, when Hagar conceived, her insolence aroused the vindictive jealousy of Sarai and led to her unjustified expulsion. Later, at God's behest, she returned, humbled herself before Sarai, and bore her son Ishmael in the house of his father, where he remained the sole and rightful heir.

God's Covenant with Abraham

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him again and said, "No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations." (Genesis 17:5 NIV). God promised Abraham that he would become fruitful and kings would descend from him. God established his covenant with Abraham and all his descendants.

God then declared to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah [Hebrew meaning "princess"]. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." (Genesis 17:15 NIV).

By now Abraham was about a hundred years old, and Sarah around 90. However, God assured Abraham that Sarah would have a son named Isaac, to be born the following year, and he would be the father of 12 rulers.

While living in Mamre, Abraham and Sarah were visited by three angels, who reminded them of God's promise to Sarah to have a son.

After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by the angels, Abraham and Sarah left Mamre and journeyed to Gerar, where Abimelek reigned. Again fearing that Sarah might be taken from him and himself put to death, he referred to Sarah as his sister, as he had done in Egypt.

Just as Abraham feared, Abimelek seized Sarah to make her his wife, assuming that the couple were brother and sister. So God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman." (Genesis 20:3 NIV).

However, Abimelek had not tainted Sarah, so he pleaded to God: "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and didn't she also say, 'He is my brother?' I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands." Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die." (Genesis 20:4-7 NIV).

God then instructed Abimelek to return Sarah to Abraham, together with compensation of livestock and servants. Abimelek did as commanded and also offered for them to stay wherever they desired. As further compensation to Sarah—as a guarantee of her chastity—Abimelek further gave Abraham a thousand shekels of silver.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from AFFLATUS by Trudy Fox. Copyright © 2013 Trudy Fox. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Preface, xi,
Acknowledgments, xix,
Chapter 1—Biblical Dreams, 1,
Chapter 2—Entertainment, Literature and Music, 53,
Chapter 3—Science, Math and Medicine, 103,
Chapter 4—Technical Inventions and Discoveries, 183,
Chapter 5—Dream Quotes, 199,
About the Author, 207,
Resources, 209,
Bibliography, 213,